Why Palestinians Oppose Economic Prosperity
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Why Palestinians Oppose Economic Prosperity
by Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute, May 17, 2019
Ashraf Jabari, a 45-year-old Palestinian businessman from the West Bank city of Hebron, recently launched a new economic initiative with some of his Jewish friends, to advance joint entrepreneurship between Israelis and Palestinians there. (Image source: iStock)
In most normal societies, a businessman who seeks to improve the living conditions of his people by boosting the economy and creating job opportunities for the unemployed -- including a host of jobless university graduates -- is treated with respect. The Palestinians, however, do not seem to belong to those societies.
Ashraf Jabari is a 45-year-old businessman from the West Bank city of Hebron. A member of a large Palestinian clan in the city, Jabari believes in economic cooperation and peaceful coexistence with his Jewish neighbors, including settlers living in the West Bank.
Earlier this year, Jabari and some of his Jewish friends launched a new economic initiative to advance joint entrepreneurship between Israelis and Palestinians there.
"We are working on taking down borders, and both Israelis and Palestinians need to take part in this," Jabari explained . "We need to breach this wall. We must first create good links and good relationships not just in the West Bank, but all over Israel so we can achieve our desired goal."
To advance his goal, Jabari recently announced the establishment of a new party that calls for focusing on economic prosperity for Palestinians:
The Reform and Development Party, he said, seeks to solve the economic problems of the Palestinians, including high unemployment. "We have an army of university graduates who are unemployed," he said. "We've reached a situation where a young [Palestinian] man holding a Master's degree in law has to work as a street vendor because he can't find work."
One would expect a message like that to be welcomed by Palestinians. Here is a man who is talking about helping his people put food on their tables. Here is a man who is saying: "Let's put aside our political differences and focus on ways of achieving economic stability for our people."
Instead of giving Jabari a chance to carry out his initiative, Palestinians have waged a massive smear campaign against him, with many denouncing him as a "traitor" and "collaborator" with Israel and Jews. Some Palestinians have even gone as far as calling for his arrest or execution.
The campaign against the Palestinian businessman reached its peak on May 13, after he hosted at his home several Jews for the Ramadan break-the-fast meal, Iftar . It is not unusual for Muslims to host non-Muslims for the Iftar meal. In this instance, however, Jabari seems to have invited the "wrong" guests: Jews.
As soon as photos of the Ramadan meal appeared in various media outlets, many angry Palestinians took to social media to voice their strong condemnation of Jabari.
In the face of the widespread protests and resentment, Jabari's clan was forced publicly to denounce and disown him. "Ashraf Jabari is a criminal, and he doesn't enter the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories," said Arif Rubin Jabari, a leader of the clan. "Our family already disowned this fraud back in 2002. He doesn't represent anyone from our clan or Hebron."
The clan leader further claimed that Israel was "using Jabari to carry out its suspicious schemes against Palestinians." He called on Palestinian Authority officials to "study Israel's attempt to give prominence to Jabari by presenting him as an alternative to the current Palestinian leadership."
The clan's public denunciation of Jabari, however, has failed to placate many Palestinians, who are now calling for severely punishing the him for his words and deeds.
The Palestinian news website Wattan, based in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians, called for bringing Jabari to trial for treason. "The [Palestinian] security services must act immediately to arrest him," Wattan said in an article published on its website.
"According to Article 135 of the Revolutionary Penal Code of the PLO (1979), the punishment for treason is prison with hard labor. The law states that anyone who offers accommodation, food or clothes to an enemy soldier or a spy or helps him escape, should be punished. Dozens of spies have already been punished in accordance with this law. Article 140 of the same law stipulates the death sentence for anyone who serves as an informant for the enemy. Indeed, many spies have been executed."
Judging from the reactions of the Palestinians, they are angry with Jabari mainly for two reasons: engaging in "normalization" with Israelis and promoting the idea of "economic peace." The Palestinians' "anti-normalization" movement is strongly opposed to any form of relations with Israel -- including sports and cultural events. Now, it seems that they are even opposed to seeing Palestinians and Jews eating together.
Jabari offended many Palestinians because he dared to invite his Jewish friends to the Ramadan meal at his home.
Moreover, his talk about "economic prosperity" for Palestinians has turned him into a public enemy. How dare the man discuss seeking ways to improve the living conditions of his people and create jobs for the unemployed?
In the eyes of many Palestinians, the struggle against Israel should be paramount, even if they have to eat and drink that struggle instead of the food they could buy through engaging in economic initiatives such as those proposed by Jabari.
Had Jabari joined Hamas or Islamic Jihad, or one of the anti-Israel organizations in the West Bank, he would have been idolized. Had he called for boycotting Israel rather than working -- and eating -- with them, he would have been lauded among his people and his clan.
In light of the uproar sparked by the Palestinian businessman's actions and statements, it is safe to assume that his new party will never succeed in winning the hearts and minds of Palestinians. It's also hard to see how any of the economic enterprises he's talking about will ever materialize.
The unprecedented campaign of hate and intimidation against Jabari comes weeks before the US administration rolls out its long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the "deal of the century."
The upcoming peace plan, according to various reports , talks about giving the Palestinians billions of dollars and raising money for them from wealthy Arab countries. Yet, as Jabari's case makes clear, the Palestinians are less invested in gaining economic stability than they are in hating Israel.
For Palestinians, the financial aid is a cynical attempt to lure them away from their struggle against Israel -- and no Palestinian leader has the stomach to face the threats that Jabari is currently confronting. So, far from any "deal of the century," the Palestinian leaders long ago struck a dirty deal of their own: they put their stock in Israel-hatred rather than in their own people.
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
Ashraf Jabari, a Palestinian - another name to add to my GROWING list of Muslim heroes.
I wonder what Omar and Tlieb would say about this man.
Is it, "All about the Benjamins"? If Ilan Omar was offensive so is this opinion...
Your record of comments sure as hell make it clear what side YOU'RE on.
Would you approve seeded articles from Stormfront slamming all Jews?
Gatestone is an Islamaphobic bookend to the antisemitic hate they print.
Did the article slam all Palestinians? It gave credit to a Palestinian and those in the party he is forming to improve the lives of Palestinians. How the hell can you compare that with a Stormfront article? Slamming all Jews is your idea of equivalency? Think again.....well, in fact just make an attempt at it.
The title makes a false sweeping generalization insulting to all Palestinians...
If just implying Jews are only motivated by money is proof of antisemitism, yes.
I know many very nice Palestinians and can assure you they like prosperity...
Yes they DO oppose economic prosperity because as explained in the article they would have a much better chance at obtaining it if they didn't prefer to support terrorists and their families, rather than normalize relations with Israelis and go into economic partnerships. HATRED is their priority. It has shown up in their school textbooks, their laws, and here is an example of what the HATERS (although there ARE Palestinians who would prefer to normalize and work and live in peace with Israelis) will do when Israelis inadvertently lose their way and find themselves in the West Bank:
Islamaphobia is just exactly as repulsive as is antisemitism to non-haters...
That's not the point. The Palestinians are ruled by the murdering terrorists of Hamas, whose only purpose in life is the destruction of Israel. The article in no way implied that all Palestinians share this evil and irrational hatred.
What do you find wrong, and why would you object to, peace between Jewish and Palestinian peoples?
It's okay, Greg. Obviously jbb has an agenda. He used the word "Islamophobia" notwithstanding it's irrelevant because he knows it will stop any discussion.
The parts in bold is all you need to read from the article- which then proceeds to ignore those parts completely.
No Palestinian faction recognizes Israeli settlements or settlers in the West Bank. Jabari is asking is for his people to put aside all territorial claims in favor of economic trade with the settlements, and by extension Israel. Palestinians will lose what minuscule leverage they have in negotiations. Israel will be able to use the talking point that Palestinians have accepted the Israeli settlements because they trade and do business with them. Israel will also gain further economic control over the Palestinians.
Jabari has the right idea; but his plan will never work until there is a final deal on Israeli/Palestinian borders. In other words, never.
You're right that Jabari is beating his head against the wall. However, territorial claims really have nothing to do with his proposal - he seeks cooperation and the benefits that can flow from it. Didn't SodaStream have a West Bank factory that employed many Palestinians, who lost their good-paying jobs because the factory had to close when BDS got involved? After all, Israel historically and legally does own Judea and Samaria. The proof is there but there isn't an unbiased world court on Earth where it can obtain a fair judgment.
The Jewish people have long lived in this region going back centuries, and can rightly claim the lands as their own. All other claims by others who came later are legally and historically invalid.
Actually territorial claims have everything to do with his proposal. You can't do business with West Bank settlements and at the same time claim they are illegal.
Welcome to the world of not doing business with the enemy. Not saying that it is right; but that is reality. Did SodaStream support the West Bank Settlements? From what I read they didn't, but I could be wrong. I have never claimed the Palestinians are smart as a whole. They are allowing themselves to be played by two organizations that only care about keeping themselves in power, not the safety and well being of their people.
We have have gone around in circles on this argument before. Their historical claim doesn't amount to anything. The League of Nations doesn't exist anymore for a reason. It was doomed from the start, and anything they passed isn't worth the paper it is printed on. Britain also promised the Arabs Palestine in their effort to gain their support during WWII- so the Balfour Declaration (which only Britain recognized is contradicted).
Also, Israel is in direct defiance of the Balfour Declaration anyways.
Non Jews in Israel are at best second class citizens. Palestinians and Arabs are routinely restricted from practicing their religion at the Temple Mount. The Balfour Declaration isn't that long- more people should really read it.
The 1924 Anglo-American Convention
And right there is your problem. Two World Super Powers (at that time the US and Britain) thinking they had the right to redraw maps and give land to anyone. Tell me, are France or Britain in control of any part of the ME? According to the Sykes-Picot Agreement they should be. Of course the Arabs forced both out of all of their countries. Sykes-Picot were idiots- they divided up land based on resources and geographical features. They didn't take into account religious differences, tribal/clan conflicts, or cultural/ethnic differences. Most of the problems in the ME are a direct result of their shortsightedness and vanity.
The Lodge-Fish Resolution 1922
Bipartisanship? What the hell is that? It proves that both sides can be in complete agreement and pass something that is completely wrong. Was Palestine a province of the US? Did the US have any control over Palestine? Did the US have any contact with the people of Palestine to get their permission?
What we are left with is might makes right. Israel won a bunch of wars and took the land by force. The Palestinians and Arab countries will never be able to remove Israel; so Israel has domain over those territories they captured. Unfortunately for Israel the rest of the world doesn't recognize that right.
As for "Might makes right", lands conquered by a defending country in a defensive war are entitled to be kept by the defending country.
Just curious Ronin. Have you ever been to Israel?
So I post an article about a righteous Palestinian who takes his life in his hands for trying to normalize relations with Israel in order to improve the lives of the Palestinians, and it's insinuated that I'm an Islamophobe. Looks like I had better lock this seed for the night. I'll reopen it for a while about 9 hours from now.
As promised, this article is now unlocked. Go to it, critics.